Archery, squirrel seasons open Saturday

Rare September beginning gives hunters one-day head start

What most bow hunters would call a blessing — cooler weather — for the opening weekend of the archery deer season, Gene Glover of Jackson calls a curse.

“I was hoping my first deer ever killed in September would also be my biggest buck ever, and I know right where he’s living and where I can take him,” said Glover, 29, and a third-year archer. “Problem is, I don’t have anything set up for a north wind, and this little front has me all boogered up. The perfect ambush spot does not allow for a stand on the south or west side.

“I got a 20-inch 10-point that’s passing a trail camera every afternoon and most mornings, in daylight, on the same path. I can’t hunt him on Saturday. The northeast wind won’t be right and I do not want to mess this buck up. If he busts me, he’ll leave that area. I will have to just go hunt another stand and hope to get a doe to take to the processor. That’d do.”

Since the regular first day of archery season, Oct. 1, falls on a Sunday, state laws allow the season to open on the preceding Saturday. That means a Sept. 30 start to the bow season, as well as the statewide squirrel season.

Mother Nature delivered a dry front that knocked about 10-15 degrees off what has been miserably hot and humid weather for over a week. Highs Saturday and Sunday are forecast for the low 80s after starting out in the low 60s at sunrise in mid Mississippi.

“Still a little hot and there’s a bumper crop of mosquitoes out there, so it will be tough,” said Tommy Harris of Grenada, who plans to be on a tree at his hunting camp in Carroll County. “There’s also a good crop of white oaks and I know where two big ones are dropping already and the (deer) signs in and out of that little bottom are plentiful. I do have a good stand for a north wind, as long as it doesn’t get too much out of the east.

“I’m pretty confident I can get a shot on a doe or two and if I get the shots I will take them. We’ve got a lot of deer up here; I don’t care what the wildlife people say. We’ve got more than plenty and we’re determined to take some of them off the habitat early, well ahead of the rut.”

Harris is so confident that he can get a doe or two on Saturday that he has lined up a squirrel hunt for another piece of property on Sunday.

“I’ve got a buddy with a Cracker-Jack feist dog that he’s wanting to hunt and the cooler mornings will be perfect,” he said. “I’d love to get a bunch of squirrels for the deep fryer or a pot of dumplings, or both, this week.

“Think about this menu: Grilled venison back strap with a bowl of squirrel and dumplings.”

That does sound good, even if it is September.